This project has been initiated in the last 3 months. The purpose of the study is to investigate bacterial meningitis using a mouse model of infection with Salmonella Typhimurium. Initial experiments have shown that systemic infection of C57/BL6 mice, following oral administration of Salmonella Typhimurium, is accompanied by infection of the brain. This was determined by recovery of viable bacteria from the brain and by histology. Inflammation of the meninges was associated with the presence of bacteria in the brain. Experiments are currently underway to determine the kinetics of infection